How to Fix Fix Error 0x80070783 — Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) Provider Error on Windows
Getting error 0x80070783 during backup, system restore, or shadow copy operations? VSS provider failed or not found? Fix this Volume Shadow Copy Service error.
Symptoms
You might be experiencing this problem if you notice:
- •System Restore fails with error 0x80070783
- •Windows Backup fails referencing VSS provider error
- •Shadow copy creation fails with this error code
- •Third-party backup software reports VSS error 0x80070783
- •Disk cleanup cannot delete shadow copies
- •Previous versions tab shows no restore points despite being enabled
Common Causes
- ⚠VSS provider registration corrupted
- ⚠Volume Shadow Copy service not running
- ⚠VSS writers in a failed state
- ⚠Third-party backup software conflicting with Windows VSS
- ⚠Insufficient disk space for shadow copies
- ⚠Antivirus real-time scanning blocking VSS operations
Solutions
Solution 1: Reset VSS Service and Writers
- 1CMD as Admin:
- 2net stop vss
- 3net start vss
- 4Check VSS writer status: vssadmin list writers
- 5If any writers show "Failed" or "Error" state:
- 6Restart the service associated with the failed writer
- 7For "System Writer": restart Cryptographic Services
- 8For "Task Scheduler Writer": restart Task Scheduler service
Solution 2: Re-Register VSS Components
- 1CMD as Admin — run each line:
- 2cd /d %windir%\system32
- 3net stop vss
- 4net stop swprv
- 5regsvr32 ole32.dll
- 6regsvr32 vss_ps.dll
- 7regsvr32 /i swprv.dll
- 8regsvr32 /i eventcls.dll
- 9regsvr32 es.dll
- 10regsvr32 stdprov.dll
- 11regsvr32 msxml.dll
- 12net start vss
- 13net start swprv
Solution 3: Fix Shadow Copy Storage
- 1Check shadow copy storage: vssadmin list shadowstorage
- 2If storage is full or allocated space too small:
- 3vssadmin resize shadowstorage /for=C: /on=C: /maxsize=10GB
- 4Delete old shadow copies if needed: vssadmin delete shadows /for=C: /oldest
- 5Ensure at least 10% free space on the volume for VSS
- 6If third-party backup installed: check its VSS provider isn't conflicting
- 7vssadmin list providers — should show "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0"
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